The City's Protector and the Scientist (AU)
by RedBeautySkimmonsFTW
Summary: So this used to be "The Encounter" I took some stuff out to make it easier to turn this into a series.. Hopefully it works and it's enjoyable.. Jemma has a run in with the city's protector…
1. Not Today

"You know-"

Jemma straightened, turning to see who exactly was attached to the voice bellowing through the empty building. It was pure instinct for her to raise her hands as she turned. Not wanting to be mistaken for a hardcore criminal was part of her plan. She was just the creator. Only there to drop it off while someone else pulls the switch.

"It's not nice to blow things up." The voice finished, stepping further in and away from the shadows.

Jemma swallowed her and squinted to get a better view of her soon-to-be captor. "Well, my boss seems to feel it's necessary." She responded with a shrug. "I'm only following orders, after all."

The person stepped closer and Jemma was surprised. A woman, dressed all in black. Her hood rested on her shoulders and her long, brown hair was pulled up in a perfectly made ponytail. Her eyes, which were darkened behind her mask, locked with Jemma's immediately.

The bow and arrow she carried in her hand, lowered the closer she stepped. The masked figure cocked a well manicured eyebrow and smirked. "Does telling yourself that help you sleep better at night?"

"Well, actually, tea helps me sleep better at night." Jemma answered, honestly. Her nose crinkled adorably. "I don't know if it's the warmth or the—"

"You do know that was a rhetorical question." The woman stated, her tone teasing.

Jemma scoffed and made a face. "I'm aware. I was just making a bit of conversation, that's all."

She crossed her hands in front of her, holding tightly to her bow and arrow. "Why? To distract me?"

Jemma shrugged again. "Maybe." She could see the teasing grin spread across the other woman's lips. She raised her eyebrow. "What's so funny?"

She shook her head, waving her gloved hand in front of herself dismissively. "No. Nothing. You're just-"

Jemma took a curious step forward, her hands still raised. "I'm just what?"

"You can lower your hands, Miss—"

"Simmons. Jemma Simmons." She took another step closer. So close that she could feel the heat coming off the masked woman's body. "And you are?"

Her head tilted, curiously. "And why does my name matter?"

Jemma's eyes danced over her features. Her strong jaw line. Her beautiful full lips. Even if she was trying to hide it all, her beauty still shined through. Jemma was sure if she could see the mysterious brown eyes without all the war paint and leather, she would melt on the spot.

"I told you mine." Jemma purred, taking a step even closer. "It's only polite. I won't tell. I promise."

Her brow furrowed and the grin did not fade. "Kind of ruins the whole purpose of the mask, don't you think?"

"It's just name." Jemma rests her free hand on her shoulder. "I've heard you called a vigilante, a superhero, a menace—"

She knitted her eyebrows together. "A menace? Really?"

"I know, right?" Jemma slapped her hand lightly against her shoulder with a small chuckle. The sound slowly faded and her face turned slightly serious. "You are far too gorgeous to be a menace."

"Miss, Simmons—"

"Jemma."

She cleared her throat obviously trying to hold back the chuckle. "Jemma—" She flashed her a questioning look. "Are you trying to flirt with me?"

Jemma's eyes widened a bit. The flush of pink rushed up her neck and filled her cheeks. She took a few steps out of the hooded woman's bubble. "I-I was attempting to win you over with a bit of flirtation, yes."

A sudden burst of laughter escaped the other woman's lips. She quickly raised a gloved hand to cover her mouth. "You're really bad at it."

Jemma dropped her jaw in shock and took a playfully swat at the other woman. "I thought I was doing quite well."

She cleared her throat and nodded. "Oh, yeah, sure. You were awesome."

Jemma narrowed her eyes. "Your tone is just as unbelievable as the fact that I didn't distract you."

"You didn't."

"Are you certain?"

She returned to the close space Jemma had created previously. Her eyes bore into the slightly smaller woman's. "Would you like me to show you?"

Jemma's eyes flicked back and forth as she held her gaze. She had suddenly forgotten how to speak so she just nodded instead.

Her brow eyes were stern and serious as she grumbled her orders. "Duck."

Jemma did as she was told. She could hear arrows and whizzing past her. The sound of grunts and bodies falling from high places filled the room. She straightened and turned seeing both of her boss's best men lying face down on the cold linoleum. Her eyes widened in surprise as she turned her attention back to mask.

"How did you know?"

She wrapped her arm around Jemma's waist and pulled her close. She stared into her eyes again, her lips close to Jemma's as she spoke. "Because when I look into your eyes, I can see the whole world."

Jemma released a shaky breath as she found herself pulled in by those big, brown eyes. "Wow…"

The woman smirked. "And that's how you flirt." She joked, releasing Jemma and taking a step back.

Jemma cleared her throat in an attempt to curve the urges coursing through her. "Right. Of course. Well done."

"The device, please, Jemma." She held out her hand and wiggled her fingers.

Jemma sighed and relinquished the device. "They won't stop. They'll find you."

She grinned. "I look forward to it, but for now—" She shot a device into the air. When it locked on the ceiling, she glanced at Jemma one final time. "I've got to go." She tugged on the cable and quickly started going up.

"Wait!" Jemma called, stopping her in mid motion. She furrowed her brow in question. "You're not going to arrest me?"

She smiled down. "Not today." She winked, giving the wire a final tug and disappeared into the darkness.


	2. Not Yet Anyway

The sunlight pouring into her room caused her to shift under the covers and groan. _Why would anyone be open the curtains and ruin the perfectly beautiful darkness?_

"Come on. Get up."

The sound of Antoine Triplett's voice bounced off the walls and broke the silence. She groaned again, her hand sliding out from under the covers. She waved it in his direction. "Go away, Trip."

He smirked and shook his head. "No way. You need to get up." He pulled the final curtains open then turned to face the lump of covers. "And Bobbi said thanks for putting a possible explosive on her desk."

"I deactivated it." She mumbled in response.

Trip released a little huff. He clapped his hands together. "Let's go, Skye. You gotta be at your Dad's in an hour."

The covers finally moved and revealed her sleepy form. Her eyes were still smudged with the black makeup under her mask. She moved slowly, her body aching from the running and jumping. Her bones groaned and growled with every stretch she managed.

"Did you forget to shower when you got back?"

Her eyes narrowed as she cocked her head to look at him. "Kind of the last thing on my mind after running and shooting arrows at about five guys last night."

Trip held his hands up in defense. "Hey, I got there as fast as I could."

Skye rolled her eyes. "I had taken down four by the time you had." She pushed herself up from the mattress and shuffled across the floor. Her hand raised, scratching her head. "You're just too slow." She grinned and picked up a towel from her chair.

Now it was Trip rolling his eyes. "Whatever, girl." He teased, crossing his arms against his chest. "You, uh, never finished telling me about last night."

Skye shrugged. "There's not much to tell." She shuffled her way into the bathroom and closed the door.

Trip bounced his head, pressing his lips together. He stared down at the floor and watched as his toe drew a pattern in the carpet. "So, the woman you were flirting with-" He looked up and waited for the door to reopen.

It did, slowly.

Skye stood in the crack between the door and the wall. Her hand gripping the knob from the inside. "I wasn't flirting." She defended.

Trip made a noise filled with disbelief. "Girl, please."

Skye took a small step forward. "I was just trying to show her that she wasn't a distraction."

"Not yet anyway."

Skye rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Trip."

He released a hearty laugh escaped his throat and he raised his hands in defense. "Alright, alright. I'll stop." Trip checked his watch, his eyes widening a bit. "Oh damn, you need to hurry."

Skye made her way back to the bathroom. "Well, if someone wasn't distracting me, I'd be in the shower already."

He raised an eyebrow and smirked. "I thought you couldn't be distracted?"

"Shut up, Trip." Skye ordered, slamming the bathroom door behind her…

* * *

"I swear the next time you put something that can explode on my desk, I'm going to-"

"Oh, calm down." Skye cooed, with a grin. "You know I wasn't going to let it go boom all over your precious office."

Bobbi gritted her teeth as she followed Skye into her father's house. "I don't like to take chances."

"What was it anyway?" Mack inquired.

"It was a sonic bomb." Bobbi explained, fixing the collar on her shirt. "It would have blown through those doors within seconds."

Trip touched Skye's shoulder. "What do you think they're after?"

Skye shrugged. "I don't know." Her eyes scanned the party in search of her father. Every influential person in Rain City was there. One of them had to be the person targeting her father's lab. "But, I'm definitely going to find out."

She and her partners made their way through the crowd. Skye searched for her father. The others searched for people on their watch list. Rich business men with a borderline desire for complete power.

So, pretty much everyone in attendance.

"There's your dad." Mack noted, motioning his chin in her father's direction.

Skye turned and suddenly felt her heart drop. "Damn it."

Trip furrowed his brow. "What is it?"

"The woman from last night."

"Jemma Simmons?" Bobbi questioned, causing Skye to quickly look at her. She smirked, knowingly. "The coms pick up everything. You should know that."

Skye shot her a look before turning her attention back to her dad. "Well, she's talking to my father."

The group stepped up to join her. Their focus in the same direction as Skye's. "Is she with Ian Quinn?" Bobbi asked.

Trip nodded. "Yup." He looked down at Skye. "I guess we found our bad guy."

Bobbi crossed her arms against her chest. "That didn't take long." She looked at Skye. "You need to get over there." She nudged her a bit. "Become part of that conversation."

Skye's feet remained planted. For the first time in a long time, she felt panicked. "What if she recognizes my voice?"

Mack made a face and blew out a breath. "No way. My voice changer is flawless."

Trip placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed her forward. "You've got this." He patted her shoulder. "Find out everything you can." He grinned down at her. "Even if it's from her."

Skye narrowed her eyes and shrugged him off. "Okay. Fine." She looked around at the others. "Mingle. See if anyone else might be contributing to this attack on my dad's labs."

They nodded and split apart.

Skye turned her attention back to her father and his visitors. She took in a deep breath, shaking the tension out of her hands. Her stomach started to knot and she could feel the sweat developing behind her ear. She caught the attention of her father who smiled brightly and waved her over.

She released a breath that she didn't know she was holding. She smiled at her father and started walking over. _And here we go…_

* * *

Skye kept the smile glued to her lips as she joined her father. His arm went around her shoulders and she looked at his guests. Her eyes locked with Jemma and she could almost see the twinkle of something in the other woman's eyes. She watched her tilt her head, her eyes scrunching as she stared back at Skye.

"Ian, Jemma." Her father began, giving Skye's shoulders a squeeze. "This is my daughter, Skye."

Ian Quinn stepped forward with that devilish smile. He extended his hand toward her. "A pleasure to meet you, Skye." He shook her hand, his eyes moving up and down. "Phil, you never told me how beautiful your daughter is."

Skye gritted her teeth. She could feel her skin crawling under his gaze and touch. "Thank you, Mr. Quinn." She forced her hand out of his grip and turned her attention to Jemma. Her smile was more genuine as she looked into the other woman's eyes. "It's nice to meet you, Jemma Simmons."

"You as well, Skye." Jemma paused for a moment, her brow furrowing in question. A curious look crossed her adorable face. "Have we met before?"

Skye shook her head quickly. "No. Nope. Don't think so." She locked gazes with Jemma once again. "I think I would have remembered meeting you."

Jemma's cheeks flushed a bit. "Well, I—Thank you."

_Again with the unintentional flirting? _

She cleared her throat and cupped her hands in front of herself. "So, have I missed anything interesting?"

"Well, Skye, I was just trying to talk your dad here into discussing his new experiment with me." Ian took a sip from his drink. "Come on, Coulson. Share the secret."

Phil shook his head. "I haven't had that many drinks yet, Quinn." He teased, chuckling lightly.

"Guess we'll just have to change that." Ian placed his hand on Phil's shoulder. "Skye, you wouldn't mind keeping my best and brightest company for a little bit, would you?"

"No, not at all." She took a small step toward Jemma. She could smell the light scent of perfume and it made her feel a bit dizzy. Skye shook her head to clear the fog and caught Jemma watching her with an interested look. "Would you like to get a drink and maybe… I don't know…" She shrugged. "Talk for a bit?"

"I'd love that." Jemma agreed.

Skye's heart did a tiny flip as she waved her hand to usher Jemma to go first. "After you." She requested causing Jemma to smile and move forward.

Skye watched the scientist walk ahead of her. She breathed out as she remembered her conversation with Trip earlier.

"_She's not a distraction."_

His final words played over and over again in her head as she followed behind Jemma.

"_Not yet anyway."_


End file.
